Originale | Traduzzioni siciliana / Sicilian translation / ترجمة صقلية / Traduc... |
A COLD COMING | NA VINUTA FRIDDA |
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A cold coming we had of it. | Fu na vinuta fridda a nostra |
T. S. Eliot, Journey of the Magi | T.S.Elliot, Viaggiu dî Magi |
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I saw the charred Iraqi lean | Vitti gnutticarisi n’irachenu arsu |
towards me from bomb-blasted screen, | stinnutu do vitru tuttu aschïatu ‘nvers’ i mia, |
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his windscreen wiper like a pen | U tergicristallu ca pari na pinna |
ready to write down thoughts for men,[1] | prontu ppi scriviri pinsera ppi l’umanitati |
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his windscreen wiper like a quill | U tergicristallu ca pari na chiuma |
he’s reaching for to make his will. | ca iḍḍu stassi gghiarpannu ppi fari testamentu. |
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I saw the charred Iraqi lean | Vitti l’irachenu arsu gnutticatu |
like someone made of Plasticine | com’un cristianu fatt’i cira |
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as though he’d stopped to ask the way | Comu si s’avissi pusatu ppi dumannari a strata, |
and this is what I heard him say: | chisti foru i so sintenzia: |
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«Don’t be afraid I’ve picked on you | “Un ti scantari ,ju assiḍḍii a tia |
for this exclusive interview.[2] | ppi essiri spiatu na vota sula |
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Isn’t it your sort of poet’s task | Un ti pari ca ‘n pueta dâ to jnìa s’avi a pigghiari a stagghiata |
to find words for this frightening mask? | di nescir’i palori ppi sta mascara i scantu? |
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If that gadget that you’ve got records | Si u strummentu ca porti cu tia po registrari |
words from such scorched vocal chords, | i palori di sti cannarozza arsi, |
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press RECORD before some dog | Mmacca REGISTRA prima ca ‘n cani |
devours me mid-monologue». | mi lania mentri staiu parrannu ” |
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So I held the shaking microphone | ‘Ncugnai u microfonu c’abballariava |
closer to the crumbling bone: | allatu i l’ossa sfatti: |
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«I read the news of three wise men | “Liggii nto jurnali ca tri cristiani saggi |
who left their sperm in nitrogen, | lassaru ‘mpullini di spacchiu nto cugnilaturi |
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three foes of ours, three wise Marines[3] | Tri nimici nostri, tri saggi marò |
with sample flasks and magazines, | ccu ‘mpullini e fotugrafìi vastasi |
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three wise soldiers from Seattle | Tri saggi marò di Seattle |
who banked their sperm before the battle. | ca sarbar’u spacchiu prima di jri ‘nguerra |
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Did No. 1 say: God be thanked | Dissi u nummaru 1: Grazzii a Diu |
I’ve got my precious semen banked. | U me spacchiu prezziusu ci l’aiu sarbatu |
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And No. 2: O praise the Lord | E u nummaru 2: Grazzii ô Signuri |
my last best shot is safely stored. | a me urtima scupittata, a megghiu, je sarbata o sicuru |
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And No. 3: Praise be to God | E u nummaru 3: Grazzii a Diu |
I left my wife my frozen wad? | chì lassai a me mugghjeri u me megghiu sgricciu. |
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So if their fate was to be gassed[4] | Accussì, su ci capitava di cripari sfissiati cc’u gas, |
at least they thought their name would last,[5] | pinsaru c’a nenti i nnomi avissiru ristatu |
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and though cold corpses in Kuwait | E cuttuttu ca iḍḍi fussiru catafari nto Kuwait, |
they could by proxy procreate.[6] | putevanu u stissu pricurari di ‘mprinari. |
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Excuse a skull half roast, half bone | A scusari na crozza menza arsa e menza ossa |
for using such a scornful tone. | ca usa parlari senza rispettu. |
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It may seem out of all proportion | Po pariri esaggeratu, |
but I wish I’d taken their precaution. | macari m’avissi quartiatu comu a iḍḍi ! |
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They seemed the masters of their fate | Parevanu i patruna dî so distini |
with wisely jarred ejaculate. | ccâ spirtizza di mbuattari i so spacchi |
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Was it a propaganda coup | Fu nu ‘ncegnu dâ propaganna |
to make us think they’d cracked death too, | ppi farni cridiri c’avevanu scassatu macari a morti, |
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disinformation to defeat us | Na farfantaria ppi mbrugghiari |
with no post-mortem millilitres? | a nuautri senza na sbrizza lassata ppi testamentu ? |
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Symbolic billions in reserve | Ḍḍi miliuna mis’i latu |
made me, for one, lose heart and nerve. | a mia a nenti m’abbileru e mi ficiru veniri u nirbusu |
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On Saddam’s pay we can’t afford | Ccu sordu di Saddam nun putemu vidiri u lustru |
to go and get our semen stored. | i cataminarini ppi sarbari i nostri spacchi |
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Sad to say that such high tech’s | Je cosa ‘nfuscata, cca un n’avemu na ticnoluggìa accussì fina, |
uncommon here. We’re stuck with sex. | Semu ancora accippati ô futtisteriu |
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If you can conjure up and stretch | Si po arrivisciri a fantasia e stinnicchiarila |
your imagination (and not retch) | ( senza jttari li vudeḍḍa ) |
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the image of me beside my wife | Po finciri di vidiri a mia e me mugghieri |
closely clasped creating life…» | ‘ncucchiati ppi criari vita …” |
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(I let the unfleshed skull unfold | ( Lassai a crozza scurciata ca sdignutticava u cuntu |
a story I’d been already told, | ca ju avia già ‘ntisu, |
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and idly tried to calculate | E adaҫiatu ju fici u cuntu |
the content of ejaculate: | dâ sustanzia di na sburrata: |
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the sperm in one ejaculation | I spermatozoi di na sburrata |
equals the whole Iraqi nation | assummanu a tutt’a pupulazzioni |
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times, roughly, let’s say, 12.5 | Di l’Iraq murtiblicata ppi 12,5 pressappocu, |
though that. 5’s not now alive. | cuttuttu ca nu 0,5 un c’è cchiù. |
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Let’s say the sperms were an amount | Ora , vegnu e dicu, i spermatozoi jeranu assa’ voti |
so many times the body count, | i cchiù dê catafari |
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2,500 times at least | 2.500 a quannu a quannu |
(but let’s wait till the toll’s released!) | ( ma spittamu ‘nsina ca ni spalisan’u cuntu !) |
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Whichever way Death seems outflanked | Comu je gghié a Morti pari ‘ntunnata |
by one tube of cold bloblings banked. | di na ‘mpullin’ i pupiḍḍi ‘ncugnilati |
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Poor bloblings, maybe you’ve been blessed | Poviri pupiḍḍi, capaci ca di tutti li sorti possibbuli |
with, of all fates possible, the best | avistivu a megghiu |
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according to Sophocles i.e. | Veni a diri, secunnu Sofocli, |
«the best of fates is not to be» | “A megghiu sorti je chiḍḍa di un essiri”, |
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a philosophy that’s maybe bleak | Na pinzata ca pari fusca a cuegghiè |
for any but an ancient Greek | menu ca pp’un grecu anticu, |
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but difficult these days to escape | ma di sti tempi je na marreḍḍa i spirugghiari |
when spoken to by such a shape. | quannu parra un pirsunaggiu di ssa fattizza |
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When you see men brought to such states | Quannu talii cristiani arridduciuti i ssa mala manera |
who wouldn’t want that «best of fates» | Cu je ca un addisiassi ḍḍa “ megghiu sorti”, |
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or in the world of Cruise and Scud | o nto munnu dî Scud e Cruise |
not go kryonic if he could, | un essiri pussibbilmenti ‘ncugnilatu, |
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spared the normal human doom | canziannu l’ordinaria sorti umana |
of having made it through the womb?) | di trafichiari ppi mmattìri nte l’uteru?) |
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He heard my thoughts and stopped the spool | ‘Nzirtò i me pinzera e astutò a cassetta: |
«I never thought life futile, fool! | “Mai pinzai câ vita je na minchiata, pezz’i fissa! |
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Though all Hell began to drop | Quantunchi l’universu ‘Nfernu mi sciḍḍicava ‘ncoḍḍu |
I never wanted life to stop. | mai m’addisiai di finirila. |
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I was filled with such a yearning | Fui accussì chinu di disiu |
to stay in life as I was burning, | di campari mentri stava bruҫiannu |
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such a longing to be beside | Accussì sfilava lu cori di stari allatu |
my wife in bed before I died, | i me mugghieri ‘nto lettu mentri stava murennu |
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and, most, to have engendered there | e primariamenti d’aviri criatu ḍḍa |
a child untouched by war’s despair. | un figghiu c’avissi canziatu i disperazioni dâ uerra. |
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So press RECORD! I want to reach | Perciò mmacca REGISTRA ! Vogghiu abbjari |
the warring nations with my speech. | ê paisi in uerra i me palori |
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Don’t look away! I know it’s hard | Un taliari di n’autra banna! U sacciu ca scura lu cori |
to keep regarding one so charred,[7] | appizzari l’occhi a unu accussì ‘ncravunutu |
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so disfigured by unfriendly fire | Accussì sfazzunatu dû focu nemicu |
and think it once burned with desire. | E penza ca na vota abbruҫiava dû disiu. |
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Though fire has flayed off half my features | U focu scurciò na mità dê me fattizzi, |
they once were like my fellow creatures», | ma na vota jeranu com’a chiḍḍi dê me cumpagni, |
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till some screen-gazing[8] crop-haired boy | ‘Nzinu ca corchi picciottu cchî capiḍḍi curti |
from Iowa or Illinois, | amminchiatu cchî televisuri , di l’Iowa o di l’Illinois |
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equipped by ingenious technophile | Carricatu di nu ‘ngignu lesu di tecnulogia |
put paid to my paternal smile | pigghiò di mira u me sorrisu di patri |
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and made the face you see today | e casciunò a facci ca stai taliannu oi |
an armature half-patched with clay, | na curazza ppi mità accupunata i crita |
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an icon framed, a looking glass | Na stampa i ‘ncurniciari, un riflessu |
for devotees of “kicking ass”,[9] | ppi ddivoti dû “cauciu nto culu” |
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a mirror that returns the gaze | u specchiu ca renni l’ucchïata |
of victors on their victory days | dê vincituri nte jorna dâ vittoria |
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and in the end stares out the watcher | e ca infini talia ccu l’occhi sfunnati u spettaturi mmarazzatu |
who ducks behind his headline: GOTCHA![10] | ca s’ammuccia darrè u tituluni “NZIRTATU” |
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or behind the flag-bedecked page I | Opuru darrè a paggina 1, addubbata ccâ bannera, |
of the true to bold-type-setting «SUN»![11] | dô jiurnali “SULI” a carattiri ‘ngrassettu |
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I doubt victorious Greeks let Hector | Un criu ca i Greci vincituri dettiru largasia a Ettore |
join their feast as spoiling spectre, | di participari â festa com’un fantasima ppi sminnittiarila, |
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and who’d want to sour the children’s joy | e cu je ca vulissi ammacchiari a cuntintizza |
in Iowa or Illinois | dê carusi di l’Iowa o di l’Illinois |
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or ageing mothers overjoyed | o dê matri vecchie mmenz’u scattiu dâ cuntintizza |
to find their babies weren’t destroyed ? | picchì i so bamminiḍḍuni s’anu sarvatu a peḍḍi ? |
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But cabs beflagged with « SUN» front pages | Ma i taxi mercati cchî primi paggini dô “SULI” |
don’t help peace in future ages. | un aggiuvanu a paci nte tempi a viniri |
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Stars and Stripes in sticky paws | Stiḍḍi e strisci nte l’artigghi mpiccicusi |
may sow the seeds for future wars. | ponu jttari i simenti i uerre un jornu |
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Each Union Jack the kids now wave | Ogni bannera nglisi ca i picciriḍḍi ora salutanu |
may lead them later to the grave. | I po cunnuciri doppu â tomba. |
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But praise the Lord and raise the banner | Ma lodati u Signuri e isati u stinnardu |
(excuse a skull’s sarcastic manner!) | (scusa a furma i sdilliggiu di na crozza !) |
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Desert Rat [12] and Desert Stormer [13] | I Surci dô Desertu e chiḍḍi dâ Tempesta dô Desertu |
without scars and (maybe) trauma, | senza nu mercu e (po essiri) senza na botta |
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the semen-bankers are all back | I bancheri do spacchiu anu turnatu |
to sire their children in their sack. | a fari figghi nto saccu i sempri |
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With seed sown straight from the sower | Ccu spacchiu siminatu direttamenti dô siminaturi |
dump second-hand spermatozoa![14] | Jttati i spermatozoi di secunna manu ! |
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Lie that you saw me and I smiled | Cunta na farfantaria, cunta ca mi truvasti ca surridevu |
to see the soldier hug his child. | taliannu u surdatu c’abbrazzava u so picciriḍḍu. |
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Lie and pretend that I excuse | Cunta na farfantaria e finci ca ju i discarricu |
my bombing by B52S, | d’ essiri statu capuliatu dî B52S |
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pretend I pardon and forgive | Finci ca dugnu pirdunanza e pirdunu |
that they still do and I don’t live, | a chiḍḍi ca ‘ncora u fanu mentre un sugnu cchiù vivu |
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pretend they have the burnt man’s blessing | Finci ca c’anu a binidizzioni di l’omu arsu |
and then, maybe. I’m spared confessing | e allura po essiri ca ju scapulu i cunfissari |
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that only fire burnt out the shame | Ca sulu u focu abbruҫiò a vrigogna |
of things I’d done in Saddam’s name, | dê cosi ca fici in nomu di Saddam |
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the deaths, the torture and the plunder | Ammazzatini, turturi e sacchiamenti, |
the black clouds all of us are under. | nivuli nivuri ca n’accupunanu tutti |
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Say that I’m smiling and excuse | Dicci ca ju staiu surridennu e c’addumannu scusa |
the Scuds we launched against the Jews.[15] | ppî Scud ca jttammu contra l’Ebrei. |
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Pretend I’ve got the imagination | Finci ca m’aiu figuratu |
to see the world beyond one nation. | di vidiri u munnu sparti na sula nazioni |
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That’s your job, poet, to pretend | Je cosa tô, pueta, finciri |
I want my foe to be my friend. | ca vogghiu a scanciu u me nemicu ppi amicu |
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It’s easier to find such words | Je cchiù spicciu nesciri ssi palori |
for this dumb mask like baked dogturds. | ppi sta maschira lofia comu i strunz’ i cani |
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So lie and say the charred man smiled | Perciò smàfara e dicci ca u bbruҫiatu surrisi |
to see the soldier hug his child. | quannu vitti u surdatu c’abbrazzava u so picciriḍḍu. |
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This gaping rictus once made glad | Stu sgrignu sbalancatu na vutazza |
a few old hearts back in Baghdad, | arrimuḍḍava i cori di na maniata di picciotte a Baghdad, |
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hearts growing older by the minute | cori ca ‘nsiccumanu ‘nsuppilu ‘nsuppilu |
as each truck comes without me in it. | manu manu c’arrivanu i cami senza i mia. |
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I’ve met you though, and had my say | Cuttuttu ti ‘ncuntrai e ti cuntai u cuntu |
which you’ve got taped. Now go away». | Ca tu registrasti. Ora vatinni” |
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I gazed at him and he gazed back | C’appizzai l’occhi ‘ncoḍḍu a iḍḍu e iḍḍu cchî so occhi sbarrachïati |
staring right through me to Iraq.[16] | mi spirciava ppi taliari ‘nversu l’Iraq |
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Facing the way the charred man faced | Ccâ facci vutata unni taliava l’omu abbruҫiatu |
I saw the frozen phial of waste, | vitti na ‘mpulla ncugnilata i munnizza |
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a test-tube frozen in the dark, | Na ‘mpulla a tubettu ncugnilata nto scuru, |
crib and Kaaba [17], sacred Ark [18], | naca e Muschìa dâ Mecca, Arca di l’Allianza, |
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a pilgrimage of Cross and Crescent [19] | Un Pilligrinaggiu di Cruci e Menzaluna, |
the chilled suspension of the Present. | u Prisenti ‘mmurratu e ‘ncugnilatu |
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Rainbows seven shades of black | Arcubbalena ccu setti sfumatin’i nivuru |
curved from Kuwait back to Iraq,[20] | ‘ncimmiḍḍiati dû Kuwait ‘nzina l’Iraq |
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and instead of gold the frozen crock’s | E ‘ncanciu d’oru a cascia jer’attippata |
crammed with Mankind on the rocks, | ccu Umani nte rocchi, |
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the congealed geni who won’t thaw | U giniu ‘ncugnilatu ca ‘n si squagghia |
until the World renounces War, | ‘nzina ca u Munnu n’arrifiuta a uerra, |
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cold spunk meticulously jarred | Sburra fridda , i pillicusi a ‘mbuattaru |
never to be charrer or the charred, | pp’un essiri ma’ abbruҫiaturi o abbruҫiatu, |
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a bottled Bethlehem of this come – | Na Betlemmi ‘mbuttigghiata d’un millenniu |
curdling Cruise/Scud-cursed millennium. | jastimiatu di Cruise/Scud c’a pizzuḍḍiatu a vintura |
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I went. I pressed REWIND and PLAY | Mi ni ji. ‘Mmaccai “VA ARRERI” e “SONA” |
and I heard the charred man say: | E sintii l’omu abbruҫiatu ca diceva: |
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[1] The charred Iraqi is ready to give his testimony through the pen, though he does so instead by giving an “exclusive interview” with the poet, chosen because he can give expression to the “frightening mask”. The charred Iraqi is thus a voice which speaks from beyond the grave, like Virgil for Dante or like the dead German soldier in Wilfred Owen’s ‘Strange Meeting’ ‘Strange Meeting’
[2] War journalism and journalism in general is characterized by the desire for exclusive interviews. Imagine the scoop to get the real story from an Iraqi soldier, and a dead one too. Tony Harrison’s poetry itself is linked to journalism: his poem appeared, on his insistence, in the news (rather than the literature) section of the Guardian. He was subsequently sent to Bosnia in 1995 specifically to write poems about the war. Tony Harrison is thus a “war poet” in a very special sense, with a job similar to that of a “war correspondent”.
[3] The first lines of T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Journey of the Magi’ (“A cold coming we had of it/Just the worst time of the year/For a journey ...”) gave the title to Tony Harrison’s poem and appeared at the head of Harrison’s poem when it was originally published. Harrison gives Eliot’s first words a sexual sense, and this is typical of his iconoclastic treatment of some of the accepted canons of English literature. Harrison’s poem, however, continues the sense of the cold and unwelcome nature of the epiphany: in Eliot’s version an awakening to the cold difficulties of the Christian life; in Harrison’s the cold barbarism of the war in Iraq.
[4] The Iraqi army used nerve gas during the war against Iran in the 1980s.
[5] last rhymes with gassed in Tony Harrison’s Yorkshire accent. See his poem ‘Them and [uz]’ if you want to enjoy Harrison’s attacks on Received Pronunciation, which he throws “into the lap of dozing Daniel Jones”.
[6] The technological sophistication of the Americans enables them to be immortal – or at least to procreate after death. The rest of us are “stuck with sex”.
[7] But the poet’s job is to do just this: to look into the frightening mask, the “gaze of the Gorgon” and be able to speak, to reach the warring nations with the soldier’s testimony.
[8] The American soldier watches television – but also fires his weapons through monitoring the target on a screen?
[9] “to show them that you are angry with them, either by telling them or by using physical force” [AM: INFORMAL, RUDE] (Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners). An expression beloved by George Bush Snr. with regard to Iraq
[10] “GOTCHA” (= got you, “preso”). This was the full page headline of the Sun newspaper in 1982 “celebrating” the sinking of the Argentinian ship the Belgrano during the Falklands War. The Belgrano was in fact sailing away from the hostilities and was outside of the 200-mile exclusion zone proclaimed by the British. 323 Argentinian lives were lost. In the British general election of 1983, an independent candidate stood against Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister during the war, in her constituency, Finchley, for a party ironically named “Belgrano Blood Hunger”.
[11] Tabloid newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch well-known for its large headlines in bold type.
[12] The “Desert Rats” was the name given to the British 7th Armoured Division in North Africa during the Second World War, commanded by General Montgomery.
[13] “Desert Storm” was the name given to the military campaign of the US against Iraq in 1991.
[14] In the voice of an advertiser.
[15] During the 1991 war, the Iraqis fired 39 Scud missiles into Israel in an attempt to draw it into the conflict. The missiles resulted in some damage and a few casualties.
[16] Notice the direction that the charred Iraqi is facing – away from Kuwait and the conflict, towards Baghdad.
[17] The sacred mosque of Mecca.
[18] The ark of the covenant, sacred to the Jews
[19] Christian and Muslim symbols respectively.
[20] The retreating Iraqi army set fire to Kuwaiti oil plants before leaving. The result was immense clouds of smoke from burning oil